Flouting Rules Like A Boss: From Misusing The Army To Forcibly Evicting Farmers Off Their Land

Controversies surrounding the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living World Culture Festival 2016 don’t seem to stop. After President, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also not take part in the event on the pretext of “security threat”. The event is to be held on the bank of Yamuna river, Delhi from the 11th to 13th of March.National Green Tribunal(NGT) today while hearing the case questioned the Centre as to why no environmental clearance is required for erecting structures in Yamuna Flood plains for three-day ‘World Culture Festival’. This year marks the 35th anniversary of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s ‘Art of Living’ organization owing to which this year’s festival is being planned on a much larger scale than usual. About 3.5 million people from over 152 countries are estimated to be present at the gala in Delhi.

Flaunting the rules like a boss:

NGT noted that the organizers have exceeded the permission granted by the Delhi Development Authority(DDA) on Tuesday.

An expert committee’s report pointed out damage on 60 acres of land on the banks of Yamuna. He also said that the required 7-acre stage set up for the event will not hold unless the foundation is below the earth surface which would result in destabilizing the fragile banks of Yamuna.

No clearance was given by the police and fire departments, which put the 35 lakh devotees on risk and no person will be held accountable for any mishappening.

The organizers’ plan to releasing ‘enzymes’ into 17 drains joining the Yamuna for cleaning the river.

The Delhi Police has warned of “stampede”, “pandemonium” and “utter chaos” unless shortcomings in the arena for the World Culture Festival, being organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation on the Yamuna floodplains, are attended to immediately.

Army said can’t do But Forced To Build Bridge

The Army was called in to build floating bridges across the Yamuna for the grand festival. As per various reports, army refused to make the bridge and said so on file. Senior officers were not ready to guarantee complete safety to the attendees of the event but were asked to continue with the construction. The reason given by the organizers for involving the army was the risks accompanying the attendance of various high-ranking officials. Around 120 personnel had been assigned to the task.

Pictures of army officials and trucks at the event site went viral on social media on Monday which made eyes roll. The military’s involvement drew a lot of criticism in the beginning but the mega festival faces a larger crisis.

WATCH: Army personnel construct pontoon bridge in Delhi for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s World Culture Festival. This has caused a huge controversy as questions are being asked whether it was right to make members of country’s security forces to work for a private event.

For the sake of this large-scale celebration of culture numerous farmers have been displaced from their land, cutting them off from their only source of income. To clear up land for creating parking space a large stretch of land has been cleared up resulting in forcible eviction of several farmers. One of the affected farmers, Mohammad Ibram, said that on February 23rd a police team along with some event organizers arrived to ask them to vacate their land. He said “My brother Salman opposed the move along with his friend, Yameen, who resides near the toll plaza, and Shiv Kumar, who lives near Hanuman Mandir in Chilla Khadar. This was not liked by the Mayur Vihar police personnel who booked all three of them on non-bailable charges and arrested them. The three were subsequently sent to judicial custody and are lodged in Tihar Jail.”

While the three men are facing charges, the rest of the unfairly displaced farmers have lost all their investments into their crops. Their lands were razed by bulldozers even before the families could recover their crops. On the pretext of illegally occupying government land, these poor farmers were threatened for expressing their anguish. With minimum compensation being offered the farmers have no choice but to retaliate.

The NGT will continue the hearing tomorrow and a verdict is expected before lunch. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that the event planners have been environmentally conscious and is hopeful that the event will go on as planned.

The Logical Indian strongly condemns the way the army was being used for a private function. We pride on our soldiers and this is a disrespect to use them for a private event. We hope that justice is served to the farmers and those who have been imprisoned over this issue. Scenarios, where extremely fragile environments are put into danger, must be completely avoided.

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Know Why This Small Town In Tamil Nadu Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records

Did you know there is a town at the southern tip of India that can be called ‘Heaven on Earth’. Its people realise the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Madukkarai Panchayat in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, is the cleanest place in India, owing to around 50 women who wake up every day to collect waste from each and every household in the town. At 6 AM, the women set out to work with their green jackets on, hands covered in gloves and caps adjusted perfectly on their heads. Every morning they line up for the roll call. These ‘Green Friends’ are part of the solid waste management program supported by ACC Cement – Madukkarai.

Madukkarai, a small town at the tip of the country, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world. With the help of around 50 women, who are now called ‘Green Friends’, and a simple, scalable model, this town is leading the way for efficient waste management. #SwachhBharat

While most of us find someone to put the blame on, Madukkarai decided to take control in their own hands. The town has 8,000 households and a population of 42,000. 82% of the homes hand over garbage to ‘Green Friends’ every day. 1,440 tonnes of garbage is collected annually from the town of 18 wards and 107 streets.

There is a lot that we can learn from Madukkarai. One of the most disturbing realities that we face, despite which part of the country we reside in, is the similar dirt everywhere – garbage piled up on roadside, drains clogged with plastic bags and dogs chewing on the leftover food we have callously thrown on the streets.

We keep our homes clean; make sure that the floors are mopped every day. But why do we not share the same sentiment for our surroundings? We hardly realize that the street outside our home is as much ours as is anybody else’s. We are the ones who use these roads every day to commute. Madukkarai realized this and the importance of a clean environment for our health and well-being.

Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world

‘Green Friends’ collect household wastes in eight different bins for wet waste, kitchen waste, plastic waste, etc. This is then disposed in large bins kept in several parts of the town. Trucks pick up this waste daily and take it to the resource recovery park where the garbage is recycled.

The treatment center segregates the different types of wastes. The kitchen waste is converted into fertilizers and given to farmers at extremely low prices to use in cultivation of their crops. The plastic waste is processed to be used in the construction of roads, and also at the large ACC factory where it is used as fuel at high temperatures which does not even cause pollution.

Due to the efforts of ‘Green Friends’, the citizens of Madukkarai, and the municipality, there has been a 60% reduction in landfill waste over the span of three years. There has also been a 50% reduction in the vehicle movement to the landfill sites, 85% of organic waste is converted successfully into vermin compost, ample reduction in the use of fossil fuels, reduction in greenhouse gas emission to 60%, and substantial decrease in the spread of malaria and dengue among the people. Furthermore, barren lands provided for compost yard have been successfully converted into fully functional organic compost yard and non-recyclable waste is used as an alternative energy source for the cement industry.

Madukkarai’s citizens have also become more environment-friendly, with 30% of the households segregating the organic-recyclable waste at home.

What we can learn

Madukkarai has paved the way to the sustainable development of our world. They have shown us that is not impossible to keep our environment clean. All we need is to inculcate in us a concern for mother Earth. It is commendable that ACC is supporting Madukkarai in its venture and helping it stay clean.

We, as citizens of other towns, cities, villages and states in India, have a lot to learn from Madukkarai. We too can have a healthier life if only we care enough and practice our civil duties proudly.